| The players are out in the middle. The countdown begins and we are ready to go. |
Teams: |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), AB de Villiers, Darren Sammy, Sean Abbott, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Aaron, Abu Nechim |
| Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Gautam Gambhir(c), Robin Uthappa(w), Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Kishan Cariappa |
Kohli: 'It's going to be an exciting season. It's a special ground for me. I got my first international hundred here. We've got some good of bowling options this year as well. Yeah, she would be (when Gavaskar cheekily asked 'Is she (Anushka Sharma) here?'). We are going to bowl first, looks a pretty hard wicket so we are backing ourselves to chase down the target.' |
Gambhir: 'I think it was a clinical performance in the first game. We've got to play well this season. We have started well and hopefully we will carry the momentum forward. It (the pitch) is a bit dry, so hopefully it will turn. Kishan Cariappa replaces Umesh Yadav. No one has seen him so hopefully he'll do well today.' |
Royal Challengers Bangalore have won the toss and have opted to field |
| On the other hand, defending champions KKR are looking very confident after extending their winning streak to 10 games with their thumping win over Mumbai in the season opener. Morne Morkel and Sunil Narine, two of their key bowlers, did well against MI, while captain Gautam Gambhir led from the front with a fine fifty. With Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav playing confidently, the batting line-up looks quite formidable. However, they would want to improve their fielding, having dropped a few catches the other day. Overall, this has all the makings to be a cracking contest. |
Hello and welcome to game 2 of today's double-header. It's time for RCB to get their first taste of IPL-8. After revamping their squad with some smart buys in the auctions, they will be excited to take the field tonight and start well. Mandeep Singh, Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, Darren Sammy, Sean Abbott, Iqbal Abdulla, Manvinder Bisla, David Wiese, Sarfaraz Khan, Jalaj Saxena, Shishir Bhavane are few of the new additions. However, it is a big blow that they will miss Mitchell Starc for a few matches due to a knee injury. Captain Kohli though still believes that RCB have a good bowling attack despite the absence of Starc. |
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Preview Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have a 'royal challenge' on their hands when they take on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the fifth match of IPL 8 at Eden Gardens on Saturday. KKR made a winning start to their title defence when they comfortably beat Mumbai Indians on the opening day, and they will be keen on extending their winning start. They boast of a 10-match winning streak in the IPL and it will take a big effort from RCB to halt the run. RCB brought in as many as nine players during the auctions earlier this year, including Dinesh Karthik for a dizzying INR 10.5 crore. As has been the case over the years, the side boasts of plenty of match-winners, but the team has failed to clicked as a unit on far too many occasions. Virat Kohli will hope that his side avoid the mistakes they made over the previous seasons and end their trophy drought this time around. Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata Date: April 11, 2015 Time: 20:00 IST Weather: Rain could play spoilsport. Otherwise, it will be a humid evening. Team News: KKR Having comfortably seen off Mumbai Indians in the opening encounter, KKR will not want to tinker with a winning combination. They will, however, be worried with the performance of their slower bowlers. Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla's combined 10 overs went for 92 runs with a solitary wicket to show for their efforts. Gautam Gambhir will want his spinners to put up a better show this time around. Probable XI: 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Robin Uthappa (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Umesh Yadav, Morne Morkel RCB With a number of new faces in the side, RCB will be unsure about their playing XI. Mitchell Starc - a shoo-in for any side in world cricket today - misses out through an injury, while his likely replacement in the side, Adam Milne, could also be unavailable. In the pair's absence, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda and Yuzvendra Chahal should find spots in the starting XI, while Sean Abbott and Darren Sammy should play ahead of David Wiese. RCB's strength is definitely their batting, and the inclusion of Karthik adds a new, more potent dimension to the line-up. With the likes of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Karthik in the batting order, RCB will be confident that they can beat any bowling attack. Mandeep Singh, S Badrinath, Vijay Zol and Manvinder Bisla will be left to fight it out for the two remaining slots in the line-up. Probable XI: 1 Mandeep Singh, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 AB de Villiers, 6 S Badrinath, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Varun Aaron, 10 Ashok Dinda, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal Quotes: 'This season is pretty different for us because for the last three or maybe four years myself, Chris [Gayle] and AB [de Villiers] have played under a lot of pressure because the batting revolved around the three of us. But, this time around we have got Dinesh Karthik, Darren Sammy, Badrinath and youngsters like Mandeep Singh coming into the batting line-up. It is a very strong batting unit this time and we have got really good depth' - Virat Kohli 'The past couple of months were mentally testing and trying. We have moved on now (from the WC loss) and my focus is now with the Kolkata Knight Riders and I want to deliver my best for this team. I know it is not going to always go my way and I realise it is a part of T20 cricket. But if it is my day, I am going to make sure that I cash in and take wickets for the team.' - Morne Morkel |
